Attachment for penholders and pencils to assist in the practice of penmanship



G. T. WRIDE.

'ATTACHMENT FQR PENHOLDERS AND PENCILS TO ASSIST IN THE PRACTICE OF PENMANSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1920.

1,342,576. I Patented June 8,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFF1cE. ..i

' GEORGE 1*. warns, or LETHBRIDGn'ALBEnTA;GA ADAQ ATTAcHMENT ron PENHOLDERSAND rnncits'ro AssIsrIN p PENMANSHIP.

rnn'rnaorron or Specification of Iietters'Patent. Patented June 8, 1920.

Application filed January 16,1920. ,s'efiailvo. 351,84.

To all'wfiom it mag concern" Be it known'that I, GEORGE T. WRIDE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, have invented a new and useful Attachment for Penholders and- Pencils. to Assist in. the PracticeofPenmanship, of which the-fol lowing-is a specification.

' This invention relates'to devicesused in practising penmanship and is designed to hold the fingers of the writer in correct position on a writing tool, as pencil, pen holder, or othersimilar device. One of the object'sof this inventionis to provide such a device which will hold the fingersaswell as-thehand of a writer, child as well as adult, in correct position on a pencil, penholder, or. othersimilar device.

Another object is to'make this device an individual as'well as'a general atachment; individual-"inasmuch as the device is made to fitithe individual-hand: in'such a manner that" the; person who has" obtained. a certain device for personal use cannot very well use it otherwise butincorrectrelation to a penoil; penholder, orgother similar device for which: that individual device has been designed; as. a generalaattachmenwsince the devicexis'made in differentsizes so that the public in general can-obtain an individual attachment for personal use as above.

Another-object is: to provide a device which prevents a child or other user. from tipping the handover sidewise, which is usually done by inexperienced writers, the

device being of such form and provided.

with such means that it cannot be used or does not allow the use of the pen, or pencil,

or other device to which the device is attached, if not properly held.

Other objects will appear the user.

' Notonly marinara, but also for grown= from the fol lowing description and I appended claims as well as from the accompanying draw1ng,.in,

view-of the; device,

ups it is hard to hold a writing device, correctly so as to practice penmanship.- To make such a device effective and at the same time practicable as well as comfortable and pleasing to the user it is'naturally necessary that such a device be properly constructed in'a manner to most naturally rest on the hand and between the fingers.

The important portioniof this device has been designed aftera mold'taken from the fingers and hand, correctly disposed in such mold. Therefore it only follows that the device must fit comfortably.

The bodyd of the device is provided with an aperture or means 5 through which a writing device such as a pencil, penholder, or any other similar device 6 can be disposed sons to stay in correct relation to the device and thereby to the hand ofthe user. Some what crosswise to-this aperture or means 5 there is another aperture or opening 7 for the two smaller fingers of a hand. This opening 7 is so formed that'the two smaller fingers 8 of'a hand 9 can pass through-the device so as to allow'the fingers 8 t'o'bendas illustrated in Fig. 3. Such bending of the fingers is for the purpose of practising a holding otthese fingers so as to accustom theuser to writing by guiding the hand on the nails of these two :fingers, the nails giving asmooth surface for such a guide instead of the. fleshy part of the hand, which is liable to. cause a sticking of thehand tothe paper or other material: on which the-f writingis produced. The middle finger of the hand reaches-over the device and rests in a recess 12 of the device so as to come into a preferred position, as normally resting against the side of, the writing device, as illustrated, the middle finger 10 being. indicated in Fig. 3 at 10; Thetoreor'indexfinger 11 comes'to rest in a suitable rest or recess 13, a portion 14: beingzcut outor severed fromthe device and bentso as to "pre'-, vent the finger from slipping oil or sidewise over thewriting device, as very often hap pens with an. inexperienced writer, Another recess 15 is provided in the lower" rear edge of the device for arest for the thumb'16, a: sutiable portion 17 being cutout or severed fromthe device, and bent so as to prevent the. thumb 16 from slipping from this correctposition V V l t The writing article (as a pencil,

s ng insert! ed through the aperture 5 in the device and thereby held in proper relation to the device,

the whole comes then-automatically into correct and proper position on a hand as soon as the deviceiis taken into the hand in the" i Inthe drawing, sharp polnts 24 are pro vided on the extension end 23, project manner described above. The aperture 5 is preferably in the of a tube to allow the use of short pencils in the front end 18 of the device while the suit ably long tube 19 comes to rest on'the hand.

in the normal .mannerofa suitably. sized writing tool as will easilybe understood.

'When using short writing tools, as pencils, it is naturally preferable to have means to secure such short things and articles in the device properly. For this, I provide a split sleeve 20 whichcan properly engage .a short pencil and engage itself'properly within the front end 18.0fthe tube, as .will easily be understood. Another split sleeve'21 is pref-' erably used in the upper endof the tube to allow the insertion of an eraser 22 or other useful article used in connection with such devices. I

An extension end 23 is provided on the device so as to project sidewise'beyond the small finger when placed on a hand. This tends to prevent a rolling over of the hand, the extension end coming in touch with the material on which the writing is being 'produced, and, on further-rolling over of the hand, the writing article is naturally lifted from the surface on which the'writing is done. -No writing can be-produced in such a rolled-over'position of. the hand, and it will easily be understood, that, unless the hand' is'rolled' backto the normal position, the writing; article willnot come down to" the surface for writing. If'the writer then wants to get his pen to the paper he naturally has to press the pen toward the paper," and, pressing or trying to press the pen toward the paper, since the extension end 23 is solong and of such'proportion that it doesnot allow such movement" unless the hand is rolled back to normal position, the

writer is thereby always compelled to holdhis hand in correct position. To some extent, however, this side extension'may in some cases .tend to form a permanent support for the hand-of some users, especially if the material is rather smooth, so as to cause such'users torely on such permanent slidingsupport, and, as's'oon as the use of such device could, be discontinued, the user might go backto the old habitof'rolh ingthe hand over to incorrect position. To

overcome this, -T prefer "to provide "means whlch will cause the writer to stop using the extens on for a support. Catching or sticking means'atfa suitable point onthe extension end 23 to engage with thesurface of the mater al on whichthe writing is produced as soon, as the writer'inclines the hand.

beyond the normal position are provided form ' produced 50' asto prevent writing altogether or at least hinder the writing in such a manner as to causes-the. WIltGDQtO'itIY to overcome the tendency to r01 1 the hand over to incorrect positionliz point that :the sharp points will not even touch the material on the writing is Z In the drawing thematerial of the,e xi-' tension end' 23 is stampedand punche'd out, furnishing the material .forsthe rolled-in portion i which the bodyof the hardened steel'poin s is'suitably secured asindicated at 25, but it is of course i-Imnaterial how such points are secured as long-as .-;,such points project from the devicefin thedirec tion'tow'ard thematerial on'which the writ ing is being produced. v i

Since the writeriis thus for a suitable time compelled to rely on the muscles of the hand alone without using any support of the .device or any part of the device as asupport for. the hand there will naturally come a time when? the writer is" able 'to' hold the hand without having to rely" on any device for .the correct position of the hand: in-

A writing tool is then heldiif the'hand in such mannerthat thefingers and 'thehand' touch the tool in corresponding impressions and forms, so that, after awriter has become: accustomed to such correct holding, such writer will thennaturally place the fingers and hand incorrect position to'the writing tool, and will also be able to hold them so continuously without any further aid. I Having shown sharplpoints on the extension end 23, it will naturally be understood that any other means" which will produce the same eflect ofcatching or sticking-to the material on which the writing .is produced should be included in; this "invention, and that I do not wish tofllimit'niyself to the points shown and described as long as such a catching is made possiblefor'thegpurpose described above. 7'

Even ifa hand. is not rolled ovcrenough to. name pen frbm the 5 paper, a certain movement in that direction will causethe" extension end 23' toeng'age on the material on which thelwriting is producedand will thereby naturally. hinder the motion of writing. It will therefore be understood that even such movement will help ,tocorrect the incorrect holding of apen or writingtcol when this device is beingused.

H v ng t u des ribed; :m ...inr ntw Ill) Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a body having means fitting in a hand in correct writing position and having catching means for engaging with the material on which the writing is produced whenever the hand is turned or moved into incorrect position. 7

2. In a device of the class described, a body having a suitable number of impressions, forms, and projections, corresponding to a mold obtained from a hand in correct writing position; the body having especially a front portion provided with means to receive a writing tool, as pencil, penholder, and the like; the front portion of the body having furthermore means in its forward upper edge to receive the fore finger of a hand so as to allow the finger to touch such writing tool in the normal and correct manner, and another impression or means in its rear lower side to receive the point of the thumb so as to allow the thumb to touch the writing tool from below the normal and correct manner; the body having also a middle portion forming so to say a neck over which the middle finger of a hand can reach so as to bring such middle finger sidewise of such writing tool in a normal and correct position; and the body having furthermore an extension end provided with an aperture or opening crosswise to the first-named aperture in the front portion of the device of a form to allow the two smaller fingers of a hand to reach through the opening, the material of such extension end encircling such two fingers, and the extension end projecting sidewise beyondthe smallest finger and having catching means for engaging with the material on which the writing is produced whenever the hand is turned or moved into incorrect position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses GEORGE T. l/VRIDE. Witnesses:

O'r'ro I-I. KRUEGER, JESSIE A. MANocK. 

